Re: Clocked hours with wrong client, saved al...

cyntheag · ‎05-13-2019

I accepted a contract, client was Payment Verified, and I immediately went to work on Client's project, which was writing a proposal response to an RFP with a 48-hour turnaround. (Proposal response was due to be submitted by client 51 hours after I was offered the contract.)

This was my second contract on Upwork. As a relative newbie here, it didn't even occur to me to check on which client the contract hours were being clocked with. After working about 6 hours, I noticed the name on the timeclock was not my current client's name, but the name of another project.

I immediately went to Help to find a solution for how to transfer hours to current client and learned it wasn't an option. It was recommended in the Community solutions to screen shot all the hours, which I did.

I then quickly deleted all hours being charged to another account and informed my current client what I had done. I have screenshots of all hours worked and added the hours manually to my current project. (Current client permitted manual entry).

Client is now saying "I was going to file a dispute since I do not feel like the final product reflects 13 hours of work, but UpWork encourages you to try to resolve things directly first. So, I am requesting that we are able to resolve this."

Question: If she opens a dispute, will Upwork take into consideration the screenshots of time and work diary that inadvertently was clocked to another client before I discovered my mistake?

I have read all Terms and Conditions, so I understand I'm only protected by the clocked hours to this client. I'll eat it if I have to, but am curious to learn, as a newbie, if Upwork considers my screenshots and accounting of hours.

Thank you.

AveryO · ‎05-13-2019

Hi Cynthea,

I'm sorry to learn about your experience. As noted in this help article, manually added hours do not fall within the eligibility for hourly protection. Hopefully you and your client will be able to settle this amicably instead of resorting to a dispute.

You may read more information about hourly disputes in these thread, and help article here, and here for reference.

~ Avery

cyntheag · ‎05-13-2019

Client isn't amenable to resolving amicably.

My question remains: If she opens a dispute, will Upwork take into consideration the screenshots of time and work diary that inadvertently was clocked to another client before I discovered my mistake?

I have spent several hours reading all the policies and community forums re: disputes.

My question remains: Question: If she opens a dispute, will Upwork take into consideration the screenshots of time and work diary that inadvertently was clocked to another client before I discovered my mistake?

Thank you.

feed_my_eyes · ‎05-13-2019

Cynthea G wrote:
I accepted a contract, client was Payment Verified, and I immediately went to work on Client's project, which was writing a proposal response to an RFP with a 48-hour turnaround. (Proposal response was due to be submitted by client 51 hours after I was offered the contract.)

This was my second contract on Upwork. As a relative newbie here, it didn't even occur to me to check on which client the contract hours were being clocked with. After working about 6 hours, I noticed the name on the timeclock was not my current client's name, but the name of another project.

I immediately went to Help to find a solution for how to transfer hours to current client and learned it wasn't an option. It was recommended in the Community solutions to screen shot all the hours, which I did.

I then quickly deleted all hours being charged to another account and informed my current client what I had done. I have screenshots of all hours worked and added the hours manually to my current project. (Current client permitted manual entry).

Client is now saying "I was going to file a dispute since I do not feel like the final product reflects 13 hours of work, but UpWork encourages you to try to resolve things directly first. So, I am requesting that we are able to resolve this."

Question: If she opens a dispute, will Upwork take into consideration the screenshots of time and work diary that inadvertently was clocked to another client before I discovered my mistake?

I have read all Terms and Conditions, so I understand I'm only protected by the clocked hours to this client. I'll eat it if I have to, but am curious to learn, as a newbie, if Upwork considers my screenshots and accounting of hours.

Thank you.

It sounds like even if you do offer screenshots of the hours worked, your client is still going to feel that they haven't received value for their money. So, my recommendation is that you try to resolve this with the client before jumping into a dispute, as they've already suggested. Did you ask how many hours they were expecting to pay for? If it's close (like 10 hours instead of 13), and if you're not 100% certain that you had the skills and experience to do the work reasonably quickly, then you might want to just accept a reduced offer instead of ending up with an unhappy client and bad feedback.

cyntheag · ‎05-13-2019

I am 100% certain that I have the skills and experience to do the work relatively quickly. I'm a Sr. Technical Proposal Writer for Fortune 100 and 500 clients with more than 20 years experience, with past clients that include 3M, Imation, Toro, Wells Fargo, and HP.

This client doesn't want to pay for my 13 hours to craft a compliant response to the issued RFP. I sent drafts with numbered versions to her, asking for edits, review, and feedback. I didn't receive any edits, reviewed copy or feedback until after she had submitted the response online. Not to mention that she never sent the content that she said she would send in the messaging we did back and forth. I did the absolute best I could given the 48-hour turnaround with no response or feedback or additonal content supplied by her.

Am I correct in assuming that Upwork will not consider the screenshots I saved from the time I logged in for my mistake in logging hours to the other client? I'm really only looking for an answer to that question, as I wasn't able to find anything on that subject in the Community Forum.

Thank you.

feed_my_eyes · ‎05-13-2019

It sounds like Avery already answered your question: "As noted in this help article, manually added hours do not fall within the eligibility for hourly protection."

martina_plaschka · ‎05-13-2019

Cynthea G wrote:
I accepted a contract, client was Payment Verified, and I immediately went to work on Client's project, which was writing a proposal response to an RFP with a 48-hour turnaround. (Proposal response was due to be submitted by client 51 hours after I was offered the contract.)

This was my second contract on Upwork. As a relative newbie here, it didn't even occur to me to check on which client the contract hours were being clocked with. After working about 6 hours, I noticed the name on the timeclock was not my current client's name, but the name of another project.

I immediately went to Help to find a solution for how to transfer hours to current client and learned it wasn't an option. It was recommended in the Community solutions to screen shot all the hours, which I did.

I then quickly deleted all hours being charged to another account and informed my current client what I had done. I have screenshots of all hours worked and added the hours manually to my current project. (Current client permitted manual entry).

Client is now saying "I was going to file a dispute since I do not feel like the final product reflects 13 hours of work, but UpWork encourages you to try to resolve things directly first. So, I am requesting that we are able to resolve this."

Question: If she opens a dispute, will Upwork take into consideration the screenshots of time and work diary that inadvertently was clocked to another client before I discovered my mistake?

I have read all Terms and Conditions, so I understand I'm only protected by the clocked hours to this client. I'll eat it if I have to, but am curious to learn, as a newbie, if Upwork considers my screenshots and accounting of hours.

Thank you.

Short answer: no. Now you only can add manual hours to the right contract, and even those are not protected by upwork.

So your best solution, IMO, is to settle with the client for, say, half the hours, add them manually if he agrees, and hope for reasonable feedback.

One remark to your profile: You present at willing to work for 2/3 of the rate you show on your profile, that is a very bad signal to send to potential clients. Yes, your rate can change over time (go up), but that looks unprofessional.

colettelewis · ‎05-14-2019

It was one of those "oh no!" moments that can be quite difficult to fix, and I have clocked hours with the wrong client in the past. It is quite easy to do.

I agree with the others, but I would offer to redo the work. If the client is still not amenable, you could agree to refund if you. But remind the client that if he or she does not pay you for the work done they do not own it and that if they use it they will be infringing copyright (yours) and that if you see it on the internet you will ask for a takedown (DMCA).

I hope it works out for you.

cyntheag · ‎05-14-2019

Hi Nicola, of course I would have offered to re-do the work. As an editor, working with Subject Matter Experts, I enjoy the collaboration between writer/editor and SME and a good proposal response is always a collaboration between the two.

As I wrote in my OP, this was a 48-hour turnaround. 48 hours to craft a compliant proposal response in response to a city-issued RFP. I received the offer/assignment last Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., with a small amount of content. My job was to analyze the requirements, work with the small of content client (she) gave me and produce a compliant proposal response. She had told me she would be available as a resource. She wasn't.

The proposal response was submitted online per RFP requirements last Thursday before a 5 p.m. deadline. I sent multiple drafts and versions of sections as I worked on them for her to review and provide comment. With the deadline looming for her to submit online, I continued to fill out content as best I could. I noted in messaging that there were gaps in content that I had highlighted for her to look at. No response until after she submitted the proposal online.

So re-working content is not an option as she has already submitted the content online. It was a No Win situation for me. All of the history of my requests for content is in the Upwork messaging system. I don't want to belabor this. I have other projects and clients I am responsibilities with, and commitments to meet.

In the interest of resolving this quickly, I am offering to take off some hours.

colettelewis · ‎05-14-2019

Cynthea G wrote:
Hi Nicola, of course I would have offered to re-do the work. As an editor, working with Subject Matter Experts, I enjoy the collaboration between writer/editor and SME and a good proposal response is always a collaboration between the two.

As I wrote in my OP, this was a 48-hour turnaround. 48 hours to craft a compliant proposal response in response to a city-issued RFP. I received the offer/assignment last Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., with a small amount of content. My job was to analyze the requirements, work with the small of content client (she) gave me and produce a compliant proposal response. She had told me she would be available as a resource. She wasn't.

The proposal response was submitted online per RFP requirements last Thursday before a 5 p.m. deadline. I sent multiple drafts and versions of sections as I worked on them for her to review and provide comment. With the deadline looming for her to submit online, I continued to fill out content as best I could. I noted in messaging that there were gaps in content that I had highlighted for her to look at. No response until after she submitted the proposal online.

So re-working content is not an option as she has already submitted the content online. It was a No Win situation for me. All of the history of my requests for content is in the Upwork messaging system. I don't want to belabor this. I have other projects and clients I am responsibilities with, and commitments to meet.

In the interest of resolving this quickly, I am offering to take off some hours.

________________________

I am sorry my post should have elicited such a slap. I hope it works out for you.

(And it's Nichola.)

Clocked hours with wrong client, saved all screen shots, will Upwork look at in dispute?